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1.3 million to lose unemployment benefit

Juliet Marotzke sits down at one of the many computer stations inside Suncoast Workforce Friday, December 27 to look up her unemployment benefits, search for employment and check on her SNAP food stamps. (December 27, 2013) (Herald-Tribune staff photo by Rachel S. O'Hara)

Published: Friday, December 27, 2013 at 8:43 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 27, 2013 at 8:43 p.m.

More than a million Americans struggling to get back on their feet in the new year will have to do so without an unemployment compensation check.

Juliet Marotzke, a 48-year-old who lost her job at a Sarasota call center in January — and most of the other trappings of civilized life since then — is one of them.

A federal program called Emergency Unemployment Compensation comes to a halt Saturday, at a time when members of Congress have adjourned for the holidays, intending to reconvene on Jan. 7.

On Friday, Marotzke took the bus from downtown Sarasota, where she is staying at the Salvation Army, to the Suncoast Workforce office on U.S. 301.

There, she deftly navigated between websites that have become central to her new life as a one of the nation's long-term unemployed: a state site for food stamps and one for unemployment compensation.

While both national and Florida jobless rates improved in November, to 7 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, the number of unemployed, discouraged or part-time-by-necessity workers is more than double those rates: 14.1 percent in the nation and 14.6 percent in the state.

The 1.3 million people who lose their long-term unemployment benefits as of this weekend are part of a larger group of 4.1 million who have been unemployed for six months or longer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier this month.

The 1.3 million people, including roughly 70,000 in Florida, would still be entitled to Emergency Unemployment Compensation, had Congress chosen to renew the program before adjourning.

But as part of a budget compromise with the White House, the program was allowed to end.

For Marotzke, none of the statistics matter.

What matters is a magnetic-stripe card that looks like a regular Visa but is really her unemployment compensation in disguise.

On the unemployment compensation site run by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, she has been getting $115 a week added to this debit card, or about $460 per month.

"You feel like you've got a credit card, even if it was a delusion," Marotzke said, laughing quietly. "It makes you feel worthier."

A plea to Congress

The White House and Labor Department are encouraging Congress to reinstate the long-term unemployment payments when they return to work next month.

"There is still a large group of people who cannot find work," said Betsey Stevenson of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, during a conference call with the media on Friday. "They are just people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time."

It would cost about $6 billion per quarter to keep the program going in 2014, Stevenson said.

The council estimates that if Congress fails to renew the program, it will result in 240,000 lost jobs next year, because the money pumped into the cards is spent almost immediately.

"They are living day to day," said Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who was part of the conference call.

This particular benefit was put in place during June 2008 by President George W. Bush, at a time when the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent and the average duration of joblessness was 17 weeks.

While unemployment is well off its peak, it is still high at 7 percent. Meanwhile, finding a new job, on average, is taking about twice as long as before the downturn, Stevenson said.

The two government officials made the point that this particular program trims itself down as the economy improves: Fewer and fewer people are eligible for payments.

Once someone has gone through their benefits, they are on their own.

Full offices

At Goodwill Manasota, which runs eight Goodwill Job Connection offices in the region, Margie Genter knows of hundreds of people like Marotzke.

"I think everybody's office is going to be full in January," said Genter, Goodwill's vice president of mission services.

"Most of us are one paycheck away from being that woman," Genter said. "It is scary out there."

Since the Great Recession officially ended in 2009, Goodwill Manasota has doubled the number of Job Connection offices it runs in Southwest Florida.

"It was clear to us from the the people we had coming into the Job Connection offices, from the people standing in the lobbies because there were no chairs left, that there was a need."

Knowing this day would come, Marotzke has been intensifying her job search. It is tough to get back on your feet when you are living out of a backpack.

She believes but is not sure that she has been approved for one last unemployment insurance payment of $115. The DEO's website does not make the status of this payment clear.

She must go to a place with free computers, like the Suncoast office or the public library, just to check in and ask for her next payment on the state site.

Christmas closed the library on Dec. 24, so Marotzke applied for this last EUC payment on Thursday.

She hopes that last payment shows up on her debit card Monday.

Eroding dignity

Marotzke's 57-year old husband, Hank, fits into another Department of Labor statistic that is even more alarming. He is a discouraged worker who has given up even trying to find a job.

Bit by bit, their situation is stripping the family of dignity.

Hank and Juliet already were living on the edge when she lost that last $10-per-hour call center job in January. She had held it for four years, starting at $8 per hour and earning raises.

The couple were evicted in March, and started living in their car. That meant they had to put their cats up for adoption.

When Juliet Marotzke could not pay to renew her car insurance in July, the insurance company reported her to the state, she said. That resulted in her license being suspended. She hopes that in the New Year, once she gets back on someone's payroll, she will be able to come up with the $140 that the state requires to redeem her driver's license from suspension.

All her possessions are in two backpacks, which she carts around with her on days like this, when she is checking in at Suncoast.

"We are all nice people," Marotzke said. "It's like a very screwed up, dysfunctional family.

<p>More than a million Americans struggling to get back on their feet in the new year will have to do so without an unemployment compensation check.</p><p>Juliet Marotzke, a 48-year-old who lost her job at a Sarasota call center in January — and most of the other trappings of civilized life since then — is one of them.</p><p>A federal program called Emergency Unemployment Compensation comes to a halt Saturday, at a time when members of Congress have adjourned for the holidays, intending to reconvene on Jan. 7.</p><p>On Friday, Marotzke took the bus from downtown Sarasota, where she is staying at the Salvation Army, to the Suncoast Workforce office on U.S. 301.</p><p>There, she deftly navigated between websites that have become central to her new life as a one of the nation's long-term unemployed: a state site for food stamps and one for unemployment compensation.</p><p>While both national and Florida jobless rates improved in November, to 7 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, the number of unemployed, discouraged or part-time-by-necessity workers is more than double those rates: 14.1 percent in the nation and 14.6 percent in the state.</p><p>The 1.3 million people who lose their long-term unemployment benefits as of this weekend are part of a larger group of 4.1 million who have been unemployed for six months or longer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier this month.</p><p>The 1.3 million people, including roughly 70,000 in Florida, would still be entitled to Emergency Unemployment Compensation, had Congress chosen to renew the program before adjourning. </p><p>But as part of a budget compromise with the White House, the program was allowed to end.</p><p>For Marotzke, none of the statistics matter.</p><p>What matters is a magnetic-stripe card that looks like a regular Visa but is really her unemployment compensation in disguise. </p><p>On the unemployment compensation site run by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, she has been getting $115 a week added to this debit card, or about $460 per month. </p><p>"You feel like you've got a credit card, even if it was a delusion," Marotzke said, laughing quietly. "It makes you feel worthier."</p><p><b>A plea to Congress</b></p><p>The White House and Labor Department are encouraging Congress to reinstate the long-term unemployment payments when they return to work next month.</p><p>"There is still a large group of people who cannot find work," said Betsey Stevenson of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, during a conference call with the media on Friday. "They are just people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time."</p><p>It would cost about $6 billion per quarter to keep the program going in 2014, Stevenson said.</p><p>The council estimates that if Congress fails to renew the program, it will result in 240,000 lost jobs next year, because the money pumped into the cards is spent almost immediately.</p><p>"They are living day to day," said Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who was part of the conference call.</p><p>This particular benefit was put in place during June 2008 by President George W. Bush, at a time when the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent and the average duration of joblessness was 17 weeks.</p><p>While unemployment is well off its peak, it is still high at 7 percent. Meanwhile, finding a new job, on average, is taking about twice as long as before the downturn, Stevenson said.</p><p>The two government officials made the point that this particular program trims itself down as the economy improves: Fewer and fewer people are eligible for payments.</p><p>Once someone has gone through their benefits, they are on their own.</p><p><b>Full offices</b></p><p>At Goodwill Manasota, which runs eight Goodwill Job Connection offices in the region, Margie Genter knows of hundreds of people like Marotzke.</p><p>"I think everybody's office is going to be full in January," said Genter, Goodwill's vice president of mission services.</p><p>"Most of us are one paycheck away from being that woman," Genter said. "It is scary out there."</p><p>Since the Great Recession officially ended in 2009, Goodwill Manasota has doubled the number of Job Connection offices it runs in Southwest Florida.</p><p>"It was clear to us from the the people we had coming into the Job Connection offices, from the people standing in the lobbies because there were no chairs left, that there was a need."</p><p>Suncoast Workforce also helps displaced workers like Marotzke with resumes, job interviews and computer skills.</p><p>Knowing this day would come, Marotzke has been intensifying her job search. It is tough to get back on your feet when you are living out of a backpack.</p><p>She believes but is not sure that she has been approved for one last unemployment insurance payment of $115. The DEO's website does not make the status of this payment clear.</p><p>She must go to a place with free computers, like the Suncoast office or the public library, just to check in and ask for her next payment on the state site.</p><p>Christmas closed the library on Dec. 24, so Marotzke applied for this last EUC payment on Thursday.</p><p>She hopes that last payment shows up on her debit card Monday.</p><p><b>Eroding dignity</b></p><p>Marotzke's 57-year old husband, Hank, fits into another Department of Labor statistic that is even more alarming. He is a discouraged worker who has given up even trying to find a job.</p><p>Bit by bit, their situation is stripping the family of dignity.</p><p>Hank and Juliet already were living on the edge when she lost that last $10-per-hour call center job in January. She had held it for four years, starting at $8 per hour and earning raises.</p><p>The couple were evicted in March, and started living in their car. That meant they had to put their cats up for adoption.</p><p>When Juliet Marotzke could not pay to renew her car insurance in July, the insurance company reported her to the state, she said. That resulted in her license being suspended. She hopes that in the New Year, once she gets back on someone's payroll, she will be able to come up with the $140 that the state requires to redeem her driver's license from suspension.</p><p>All her possessions are in two backpacks, which she carts around with her on days like this, when she is checking in at Suncoast.</p><p>"We are all nice people," Marotzke said. "It's like a very screwed up, dysfunctional family.</p>